Caption: Albert Abraham Michelson (1852-1931), US physicist, with an early interferometer. Michelson emigrated from Poland to the USA with his parents at the age of two. He studied at the US Naval Academy, graduating in 1873 and later studying for two years in Europe. In 1883, he became professor of physics at the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. His interferometers and those based on his designs, were used to test Einstein's theory of relativity, and to carry out measurements in astronomy and atmospheric sciences. Michelson was awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize in Physics for his interferometry work.